Roof for railway-cars



' w. A. MURTF BLDT. ROOF FOR RAILWAY CARS.

(No Model.)

Patented Aug. 28,1883.

I ful Improvements in Roofs for Railway-Oars,

UNITED S ATES PATENT O F-Ice.

WILL A. MURTFELDT, on CINCINNATI, OHIO.

ROOF FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming al-1; of. Letters Paten't No. 84,141, dated.August 28, 1883.

Application filed February 15,1883 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- I

Be it known that I, WILL A. MURTFELDT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and use of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description. 4 I My invention relates to certainimprovements inroofs for railway-cars of the kind generally known asdouble roofs, the object being to provide an open air-chamber betweenthe inner and outer roofs,adapted to permit the constant circulation ofcurrents of air between them, and to provide a series of outlets for anywater which may come in contact with thein- :nerroof; also,affordinggreater protection .cost of construction, and producing alighter roof as compared with sheet-iron roofs and other compositionroofs now in use.

To this end my. invention consists of a dou ble car-roof, comprising aninner roof, the covfering of which is composed of prepared roofing feltor paper, of suitable thickness, laid on the sheathing-boards in stripslengthwise of the car, said strips overlapping each other and being cutof a length sufficient to permit their ends to extend downwardly overthe ends of the roof, between the ends of the roof and the verge-boards, and the eaves-strips overlapping the sides of the roof, so astoextend downwardly between the sides of the roof and theverge-boards;also, in the arrangement of a series of blocks set on thecovering-strips and suitably secured to the rafters tosupport stringers,to which the roofing-boards forming the upper roof are nailed, wherebyan airchamber is formed between the inner and outer roofs; and in thearrangement of a series of blocks secured in place between the turned- 1down portions of the covering material at the ;.sides of the roof andthe verge-boards, wherel by a serirs of open spaces are formed, adapt 45boards 13 lengthwise of the car, overlapping each other in the directionof the width of the car, and are cemented together at the laps withpitch, asphaltum, or other suitable com I I pounds, so as to form acontinuous water-tight covering to the sheathing-boards B. The ends ofeach strip 0 G O are turned down over the ends of the roof, and thestrips 0 extend down over the sides of the roof for a distance of abouttwo inches. The entirefelt-surface may then be coated or painted withany suitable composition.

E designates blocks of wood arranged on top of the felt-surface inparallel rows at suitable distances apart, which are secured to the.rafters A by bolts and nuts j, or screws, to insure a tight joint aroundthebolt-holes. The blocks E are set in hot pitch. or asphaltum' on topof the felt-surface. On these blocks E stringers F are placed andfastened, and roofing-boards D, to formthe outer roof, are nailed tothestringers F, thus supporting the outer roof above the innerroof andformingan airchamber between them.

G designates the verge-boards, which are of the ordinaryconstruction.Atthe ends of the roof the verge-boards Gare nailed against the ends ofthe strips 0 0 G which are turned down over the ends of the roof, andthe ends of the stringers F are supported by being notched into or endverge-boards. At the sides of the car the verge-boards G are held awayfrom contact with the turned-down edges of the strips 0 by interposedblocks 1, arranged at suitable distances apart and properly secured inplace,

thus forming a series of openings, (6, as clearly IO shown in Fig. 2,which serve the double purpose of permitting the free circulation of airthrough the air-chamber between the inner and outer roofs, and formingoutlets for water between the side verge-boards and the sides of thecar.

I prefer to use for the covering material prepared or ready-maderoofing-felt of the kind described in Letters Patent No. 259,228,granted to O. A. Smith and F. L. Kane, June 6, 1882, although any othersuitable roofing-felt may be employed; or thin strips of tin, laid inthe manner described, might be used instead when desired.

I am aware that it is not new to form a double roof for cars with anair-chamber between the inner and outer roofs; neither is it new tocover the inner roof with roofing-felt or other suitable coveringmaterial; but such structures differ from my improvement in that noprovision is made for the admission of air to the air-chamber and theexit of water from the inner roof, and, moreover, they are less simplein construction and more costly.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A double car-roof, consisting of an inner roof protected againstleakage by suitable covering material, and an outer roof supported onstringers secured to interposed blocks and end verge-boards, whereby anair-chamber is formed between the inner and outer roofs, in

combination with blocks interposed between the sides of the inner roofand the side vergeboards, whereby a series of openings are provided forthe admission of currents of air to the air-chamber and the eXit ofwater from the inner roof, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. A double car-roof, consisting of an'inner roof covered withroofing-felt laid in. strips the blocks E I, stringers F, vergeboards G,

lengthwise of the car, said strips overlapping each other, and havingturned-down portions covering the sides and ends of the roof, and anouter roof supported on stringers secured 5 to blocks ,and endverge-boards, said blocks being set on the covering-strips in parallelrows in line with and fastened to the rafters, whereby the outer roof issupported above the inner roof toform an air-chamber, in combi- 5onation with blocks interposed between the turned-down portions of thecovering-strips and the side verge-boards, whereby a series of openingsare provided for the admission of currents of air to the air-chamber andthe exit of water from the inner roof, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

3. The combination of the inner roof, A B, having a protecting-covering,composed of two or more layers of roofing felt or paper cementedtogether and laid in strips lengthwise of the car, said stripsoverlapping each other e in the direction of the width of the carwithout intervening materialbetween the laps, with 5 and roofing-boardsD, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. The combination and arrangement ofi rafters A, sheathing-boards B,and coveringstrips G 0 0 with the blocks E, stringers F, androofing-boards D, and with the blocks I, and verge-boards G, to form adouble car-roof, substantially in the manner and as herein shown anddescribed, for the purposes set forth. i v v In testimony whereof I havehereunto set my hand this 5th day February, A. D. 1883.

WILL A. MURTFELDT.

